On May 8, 1941, the German 2nd Tank Group and the 2nd Army began an offensive in the direction of Starodub, Konotop, Gomel and Chernihiv. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At this time, the Soviets saw through the German attempt, and on May 19, 1941, they ordered the withdrawal of the armies of the Southwestern Front to the other side of the Dnieper River and organize a defense along the eastern bank. On the West Bank, Soviet troops were supposed to hold their positions only in the Kiev region.

In order to cover the right flank of the Front, the 40th Army, reorganized from corps withdrawn from other sectors, spread out along the Jesna River north of Konotop.

The base camp instructed the Bryansk Front to prevent the Germans from breaking through from the north to the rear of the Southwestern Front. However, the front was unable to complete the tasks assigned to it and to stop the flank movement of the German troops.

At the beginning of June 1941, the Germans reached the Desna River and forced their way through the areas of Southka, Koropp, and Wibley. On June 10, 1941, the advance unit of the 2nd Tank Group captured the city of Romne (180 km from the Kremenchuk stronghold) in the rear of the South-Western Front.

On June 11, 1941, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet army in the southwest, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Marshal Budyonny, sensed the danger and asked Stalin to withdraw eastward, but Stalin also refused, and Stalin ordered to hold on to Kiev.

Stalin was stubborn and ordered that Kiev should be held at all costs, that they must remain defensive along the Dnieper line and launch a counterattack against Guderian's advancing armored forces. And without the approval of the Supreme High Command, Kiev must not be abandoned, nor any bridges must be abandoned).

On the southern flank of the Soviet Southwestern Front, the Germans forcibly crossed the Dnieper River on the night of May 30, 1941, and captured a landing ground in the Kremenchuk area (later known as the Kremenchuk stronghold)

。 The 38th Army, which operated there (transferred from the base camp reserve to the front), failed to clear the landing site. On June 12, 1941, the 1st Tank Cluster launched an attack from this landing site in the general direction of Lubne.

At this time, the Soviet army was in danger of being encircled, and the commander of the Soviet Southwestern Front, General Kirponos, ordered the troops to retreat on all fronts, regardless of the danger of being brought to court-martial.

However, this order was quickly revoked by the Soviet High Command, and the Soviet Supreme Commander instead demanded that the Southwestern Front implement more active tactics and launch a counteroffensive against the German army, and the Soviet army missed the last opportunity.

On June 16, 1941, as Yeremenko of the Bryansk Front failed to fulfill his promise to Stalin to "crush Guderian", Guderian and Kleist's panzer group met at Lokhvica, and the Southwestern Front was surrounded by German troops.

As a result, the four armies of the Southwestern Front, namely the 21st (transferred from the Bryansk Front to the Southwestern Front on June 6, 1941), the 5th, 37th, and 26th armies, fell into a closed circle.

On June 16, 1941, the largest siege in the history of warfare began. The troops of the Southwestern Front were quickly divided and surrounded by the Germans and fell into disarray.

On June 17, 1941, Stalin asked the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union Shaposhnikov, to order the approval of the breakthrough of the Southwestern Front, but it was too late. On June 19, 1941, Kiev fell, and the 37th Army was forced to move to the Yagotin region.

The Southwestern Front continued to fight while encircled. Attempts to relieve it were inconclusive due to insufficient troops. From June 16 to 20, 1941, the Southwestern Front was divided into six defensive forces by the Germans.

Only part of the army was able to break through to the east in small groups, and a total of 20,000 officers and men were finally able to break through the German encirclement. On June 20, 1941, the commander of the Front, Colonel-General Kirponos, the member of the Military Council, Burmystenko, and the chief of staff, Major General Tupikov, were killed in the breakout battle, and the commander of the 5th Army, Major General Potapov, was captured.

On June 26, 1941, the Southwestern Front was basically annihilated. On June 27, 1941, the Southwestern Front (40th, 21st, 38th, 6th Army), which was taken over by Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko, was given the task of organizing a strong defense on the Belopoliye, Hisaki, and Krasnograd fronts.

This battle was the largest encirclement and annihilation battle in the history of warfare.

The main reason for the defeat of the Soviet troops was Stalin's strategic command error. Stalin was stubborn and repeatedly refused the correct advice of his subordinates, and finally suffered a crushing defeat.

The defeat of the Soviet army in this battle brought the southern front to the collapse. However, the protracted and tenacious struggle of the Front played an important role in breaking the German plan of "blitzkrieg".

The large forces of the German Army Group "Center" were used to assault the flank of the Southwestern Front, which delayed the German offensive in the main direction, that is, in the direction of Moscow.

In this way, the Soviet High Command was able to concentrate a large strategic reserve in the Moscow direction, which was decisive for the completion of the Battle of Moscow......

The gains and losses of the German army in this battle are similar to those of the British military theorist Liddell? "As far as the siege of Kyiv itself is concerned, it can be regarded as a great success," Hart put it.

For the German army, it can also be regarded as an unprecedented masterpiece. From a strategic point of view, there seems to be a good reason for that, too. First to protect the southern flank from the threat of an enemy counteroffensive, and then to attack Moscow.

In addition, this strategy was all the more advantageous because of the large number of Soviet troops but their lack of mobility. The Germans could concentrate their forces in different areas and take turns to produce several decisive results.

However, the only weakness was that 'time is running out', especially since the German army was not fully prepared for winter operations. "The Germans won the greatest war of annihilation in the history of warfare, but lost the greatest war in the history of warfare.

After the Battle of Kiev, the Red Army had no more reserves, and in order to defend Moscow, the Soviet government mobilized 83 divisions with a total of 1.2 million men, but only 25 of them were adequately equipped and lacked armored troops and fighters.

Fortunately, a large part of the British and American aid had already arrived in Moscow, so that Stalin had the weapons and equipment to arm these reserves, and without the help of Britain and the United States, Stalin would have had to wait for death.

On the German side, they had 3.5 million men, and 70 divisions were mechanized, which was the highest ratio among all parties in the war, and the planes and tanks were incomparable to the Soviet army. (Two million are client state armies, 5.5 million in all.) )

After Germany took Kyiv and annihilated almost a million Soviet troops, it was not without German generals that they suggested to the Führer Rommel:

"The Soviet army is already running out of troops, so we might as well divide our forces and take the oil-producing areas of Stalingrad and Baku."

"The Soviet army has been completely routed by us, they now do not have the slightest will to fight, Führer Rommel, it is better for us to divide our troops in Leningrad now."

Führer Rommel poked his nose at these ignorant suggestions, and it was because of the division of troops that the German army did not take any of the three cities of Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad, and hundreds of thousands of people of Germany's most elite Sixth Army were also buried in Stalingrad, and Stalingrad became a turning point in World War II.

Rommel's follow-up strategy was very clear: Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, and the target of the third phase of the German army of 5.5 million troops was Moscow, and it was necessary to hold on.

As a result of the great German victory in Kiev, the great German obstacle in the south has been cleared, and Army Group South continues to attack in the Donbass, and the purpose in the southern theater of operations has been fully achieved.

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